Projectile extraction apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for the extraction of a jammed artillery projectile from the bore of an artillery piece, comprising in combination, a first cooperative attachment means, said means depending from the breech end of an artillery projectile; a second cooperative attachment means, said second means being complementary and attachable to said first means, said second means disposed at the end of an extension rod; the extraction of the jammed projectile being attained by the insertion of said extension rod into the breech of the artillery piece, followed by the securing of said second means to said first means and the subsequent removal of the jammed shell by the pulling of the extraction apparatus, with attached projectile, out through the breach of the artillery piece.

United States Patent 11 1 Digia como 1 51 May8,1973

[54] PROJECTILE EXTRACTION APPARATUS [75] Inventor: Andrew A. Digiacomo, West Caldwell, NJ.

[22] Filed: Dec. 8, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 96,210

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 14,230 1887 Great Britain ..81/3.05

Primary ExaminerStephen C. Bentley Att0rneyHarry M. Saragovitz, Edward J. Kelly and Herbert Ber] [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for the extraction of a jammed artillery projectile from the bore of an artillery piece, comprising in combination, a first cooperative attachment means, said means depending from the breech end of an artillery projectile; a second cooperative attachment means, said second means being complementary and attachable to said first means, said second means disposed at the end of an extension rod; the extraction of the jammed projectile being attained by the insertion of said extension rod into the breech of the artillery piece, followed by the securing of said second means to said first means and the subsequent removal of the jammed shell by the pulling of the extraction apparatus, with attached projectile, out through the breach of the artillery piece.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEU MY 8 I973 SHEET 2 BF 2 FIG. 5

INVENTOR ANDREW A.DiG|ACO MO PROJECTILE EXTRACTION APPARATUS The invention described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by the Government for governmental purposes without payment to me of any royalty thereon. I

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of art dealing with those tools especially constructed for the extraction of shells or projectiles from the bore or firing chamber of a gun or artillery piece.

Prior art in this field can be traced back to the 1867 Gun-Worm patent of H. C. Bascom, U.S. Pat. No. 62,994, and followed through the Patents of Me- Dermott, No. 290,255 (1883), Gorichan, No. 2,489,285 (1949), and Kopf, No. 2,807,902 (1957'). All of these patents teach the construction of devices which are capable of removing shells and projectiles of the types in existence at the time of the inventions embodied in said patents.

It is also to be noted that earlier extraction devices often resulted in injury to either the projectile or, on occasion, to the bore of the gun itself. Since the projectiles used in earlier, and even in somewhat later weaponry, were not highly expensive, the consequences of injury to a projectile were not great. In addition, earlier weapons, especially those used in artillery warfare, were not particularly difficult to replace, if injury were to be suffered by the bore or firing chamber of the weapon.

Today, an advanced-generation artillery piece, particularly an artillery piece capable of firing a nuclear projectile, is far more difficult to replace in the event it is rendered unuseable. Quantities are low. The dollar values involved are very high.

Also, the value and scarcity of the modern projectile,

particularly a nuclear projectile, are considerable. A-

further concern, apropos to the nuclear projectile, is that injury to such a projectile during extraction, not only will render it useless, but may also give rise to a radiation hazard.

These considerations made necessary the develop ment of a projectile extraction apparatus which would assure not only a safe extraction but also an extraction which would never injure either the projectile or the artillery piece which, under battlefield conditions, is often irreplaceable.

The present invention is the result of this development. The invention performs a. function which the.

prior art in the field was and is wholly incapable of performing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the male mode of operation the invention com- I prises a rod and plug assembly, the plug being cylindrical in shape and threaded in one direction along the entire surface of its axial length. In addition, the plug possesses an axially-centered cylindrical hole, this hole exhibiting a threading opposite indirection from that of the above-mentioned threading. An extension rod is then threaded into the hole, with the rod then being permanently fastened to the plug as by welding means, so as to form the male mode of the rod and plug assembly.

In order to effect removal of the projectile through the breech of the gun, the plug end of the assembly is threaded into the breech end of the projectile which is especially adapted to accept such a plug. The extension rod of the assembly is then pulled through the breech in order to remove the shell.

In the female mode of operation the invention differs from the male mode only as to the type of plug into which the extension rod is threaded. The plug used in the female mode is cylindrical and mouth-like in shape. The inside of the mouth-like portion of the plug is threaded along its entire axial length. The mouth-like portion is then threaded onto the breech end of the projectile, thus partially enveloping the breech end of the projectile. Removal is then effected as in the male mode.

Hence, the above-summarized invention surmounts the shortcomings of earlier devices in the same art, especially as regards their inability to remove impacted projectiles without damage to either or both the shell and the bore of the weapon.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal elevational cross-sectional view of the male mode of the extraction device.

FIG. 2 is a face front view of the male plug of the extraction device.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of FIG. 2.

I FIG. 4 is a longitudinal elevational cross-sectional view of the female mode of the projectile extraction device. A

FIG. 5 is a face front view of the female plug of the extraction device.

F IG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENTS the safer and more expeditious mode for removal of such lower caliber projectiles.

The male embodiment of the novel device requires the use of a plug 18, which shall also be referred to as a male plug 18. Said male plug exhibits a flange 19. See FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. Said male plug 18 is basically cylindrical in shape and is threaded in one direction along the axial length of its outer surface to the flange 19. Said male plug 18 also exhibits an axially-centered cylindrical recess 20. See FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. Said recess 20 exhibits a threading opposite in direction to the threading on the outside of said male plug 18.

The male embodiment also comprises an extension rod 12, one end of which is threaded. Said threaded end of said rod 12 is then threaded into said recess 20. After said threading, the threaded end of the rod 12 is permanently secured to the male plug 18 as by welding means. The result is a rod and plug assembly.

The male mode of the novel extraction process comprises the following steps: the plug end of the rod and plug assembly is threaded into a recess 22 at the breech end of a projectile 24, said projectile being especially machined so as to exhibit the recess 22, said recess 22 being especially adapted to accept male plug 18 as by threading means. After plug 18 is secured to projectile 24, the rod of the rod and plug assembly is pulled breechward until the projectile has been fully removed from the artillery-piece through previously-opened breech 16.

It is to be noted that an impacted or jammed projectile (adapted to accept a male plug) can be removed regardless of how far into the bore of the gun the projectile is jammed. One need only provide a longer extension rod for the rod and plug assembly. Hence, for maximum utility under battlefield conditions, it would be most advisable to provide military personnel with rod and plug assemblies utilizing rods of at least two different lengths.

After removal of the shell, the rod and plug assembly is removed from the shell by applying a crescent wrench or like means to two parallel flat notches 26 or like structures, said flat notches preferably appearing near the plug end of the rod. Using a wrench in combination with the parallel notches 26, the rod and plug assembly can be unscrewed from the recess 22 of the projectile 24.

It is to be emphasized that other means exist for connecting and disconnecting male plug 18 from recess 22, and that such means would fall within the ambit of this embodiment. An example of such alternate means would reside in a plug equipped with expandable sidegripping jaws, said means utilizing the concept popularly embodied in screw-holding screwdrivers.

A structure 28 represents optional bearing and torquing means which may be used to expedite and refine the steps in the embodied process relating to insertion and removal of plug 18. The structure 28, or like means, may also be used in the below-described female mode of operation.

The female embodiment of the novel device requires the use of a plug 30, said plug being cylindrical and mouth-like in shape. Said plug shall also be referred to as a female plug 30. See FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. The inside of the mouth-like portion of said female plug 30 is threaded in one direction along its axial length. Said female plug 30 also exhibits an axially-centered recess 32. See FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. Said recess 32 exhibits a threading opposite in direction to the threading on the inside of said mouth-like portion of said plug.

The female embodiment also comprises an extension rod 12, one end of which is threaded. Said threaded end of said rod 12 is then threaded into recess 32.

Then, as in the male mode, the plug 30 and rod 12 are permanently secured to each other so as to form a rod and plug assembly.

The female mode of the novel projectile extraction process comprises the following steps: the plug end of the rod and plug assembly is threaded onto the breech end of a projectile 34, the rear few inches of said projectile 34 being partially enveloped by the mouth-like plug 30. See FIG. 4. In this process the breech end of said projectile 34 must be pre-threaded to accommodate plug 30.

It is to be noted that means other than threading means may be used to secure female plug 30 to projectile 34. An example of such means would reside in a plug equipped with inwardly contractable side-gripping or circularly-gripping jaws.

The remaining steps in the female mode of the extraction process are the same as in the male mode.

Through the use of the herein-described invention, projectiles impacted or jammed in the bore of an artillery piece can be extracted with both l a greater degree of safety and (2) less risk of injury to (a) the projectile and (b) the artillery piece, than is obtainable with any previously-known tool, device, or process. The present invention, while particularly valuable in the technology of nuclear artillery, is equally applicable to the technology of conventional artillery. For example, the present invention renders unnecessary the technique ofbell-ramming, i.e., of pushing or pounding impacted shells out of the bore of an artillery piece by ramming the nose of the shell with a special tool and thus forcing the shell out through the breech. The dangers of using the bell-ramming method are: l the shell may explode, (2) the fuzing mechanism may be injured, (3) the artillery piece may be injured, and (4) the shell may actually become more deeply impacted.

The present novel apparatus may be composed of any material possessing the qualities of high-stress machine-tool steel, for example, a nickel-alloy type steel. Utilization of such a material will give the present invention a durability over every temperature range that a conventional or nuclear artillery shell would ever experience.

I wish it to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the exact detail of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A system for the extraction of a jammed artillery projectile from the bore of a breech-loading artillery piece, comprising in combination:

a breech-loading artillery piece containing a jammed projectile in the bore thereof;

a first cooperative attachment means comprising a threaded circumferential surface disposed around the breech end of said projectile;

a second cooperative attachment means complementary and attachable to said first means and disposed at the end of an extension rod, said second means comprising a plug having a cylindrical cavity, the inside of said cavity having a threading equal in pitch to the threading-on said breech end of said projectile and said cavity having a diameter appropriate for firm interconnection of 6 said first and second means, said extension rod which the second cooperative attachment means being Capable Ofbeinginsened through the breech depends, exhibits two parallel flat notches, said end of the artillery piece to effect attachment of notches Suited to being gripped by a wrench4ike said second means to said first means and thereby withdrawing the projectile from the bore through 5 tool. for purpose of reieasmg Sald mouth-like the breech end ofthe artillery piece. cavity of said plug from said threaded breech end 2. The system defined in claim 1 wherein: Y of Said projecule the surface of the end of said extension rod from 

1. A system for the extraction of a jammed artillery projectile from the bore of a breech-loading artillery piece, comprising in combination: a breech-loading artillery piece containing a jammed projectile in the bore thereof; a first cooperative attachment means comprising a threaded circumferential surface disposed around the breech end of said projectile; a second cooperative attachment means complementary and attachable to said first means and disposed at the end of an extension rod, said second means comprising a plug having a cylindrical cavity, the inside of said cavity having a threading equal in pitch to the threading on said breech end of said projectile and said cavity having a diameter appropriate for firm interconnection of said first and second means, said extension rod being capable of being inserted through the breech end of the artillery piece to effect attachment of said second means to said first means and thereby withdrawing the projectile from the bore through the breech end of the artillery piece.
 2. The system defined in claim 1 wherein: the surface of the end of said extension rod from which the second cooperative attachment means depends, exhibits two parallel flat notches, said notches suited to being gripped by a wrench-like tool for the purpose of releasing said mouth-like cavity of said plug from said threaded breech end of said projectile. 